Quickest Slants: Rudock is hurt

Ten Takeaways from today

. . . All about QB. Or mostly, anyway.

1) Pretty sure Beathard is the starter

- Though, Kirk Ferentz didn't say it definitively.

2) Rudock is hurt

- Ferentz called it soft tissue damage, no tears. Check the picture from the blog post 'Monday Depth Chart.” You can see a Pitt defender bearing down on Rudock with a helmet pointed toward his hip. Maybe hip pointer? 'It's a couple different spots, but the good news is there is nothing torn or really bad,” Ferentz said. Rudock isn't practicing today.

3) Beathard is good with this

- He said he's ready and that this doesn't change his week a whole lot.

4) That Thursday practice

- Ferentz said Beathard 'underwhelmed” last Thursday in practice, but got it together for the game. Beathard said it was just one of those days.

5) 'Moxie”

- That's the word TE Ray Hamilton used to describe Rudock and Beathard in the huddle. He used moxie and a bleep word, but you get the idea.

6) Brandon Scherff's blitz pickup

. . . There are a couple of stories there. For now, let's just say the rest of the OL noticed. In fact, they watched the YouTube on the bus ride from the stadium to the airport.

7) True freshman Tyler Wiegers is probably the No. 2

- Ferentz started that topic with 'That's a whole different story.” Wiegers has been on the scout team.

8) KF on the guy in Cedar Rapids with the KF tattoo on his calf

: 'I think he probably needs a hobby or two would be my guess. . . . There are a lot of people really enthused about our football team and we really appreciate that. But I'm not sure I'd recommend going to that extreme.”

9) VandeBerg drop at Pitt

- He said he thought that third-down play was a catch. He said they reviewed it on film in the complex and couldn't see anything where the officials could call it incomplete. The sophomore also said the 44-yarder he later caught felt real, real good.

10) And from the weird, wacky

- The defensive backs are a competitive group. Desmond King told me they once had a contest to see who would be the last one to fall asleep. King said he was out early.

Ferentz from the Big Ten teleconference

. . . Here we go.

Opener

- Good to get victory. Played very good Pitt. Outplayed severely in the first half. Pulled out the win. Good to get it on the road. Finish on the positive note. Hit the road to Purdue for first Big Ten. Purdue is improved.

Thought on bounceback for B1G this week (12-1) - I think a lot of that stuff gets overplayed. Football is week-to-week. We've got a lot of good teams in our conference. I'm happy when the league wins. Not a big thing in my thought process.

On CJB and change at starter

- CJ went into the game. Jake Rudock was injured at the end of the half. Jake is going to be day-to-day from what I can tell. I think right now, CJ is definitely our starter today because Jake won't be practicing. We'll just see how the week plays out.

What CJ do?

- We feel good about both QBs. Rare circumstance. Have two guys we have a lot of faith in. It went from none to two. We have two guys we can win with. I wish we had that at every position.

Purdue improved

- Just overall. Their whole team has improved overall. Coaching change brings a transition phase. Started a frosh QB a few years ago. What they're doing in points off turnovers, production there is outstanding. Good team football right now.

Center judge

- Good thing for football in general. All but one going that direction. I don't think it's slowed down dramatically. Not a 100-play team anyway. Anytime get two more eyes. Personnel communication problems more than officiating.

The personal foul considered

. . . You can see everything and nothing in the press box.

My seat at Pitt gave me a good view of the replay when Iowa cornerback Desmond King was called for a personal foul in the third quarter. The call came on a third-and-8 and set up the Panthers at the Hawkeyes' 19. The Iowa defense held and forced a field goal that made it 20-14.

If the personal foul doesn't happen, the field goal might not have happened. The third-down pass was incomplete.

At Kinnick, I can't really see replays. The nearest TV is off to my right and elevated. (I really need Slingbox. Tax write off!) But at Pitt, it was right there for me.

I looked and I thought, what was that? There was no malicious contact. There might not have been any contact at all when King ran at Pitt QB Chad Voytik. The call stood. Iowa might've argued a little bit, but not a whole lot.

I thought it was bogus. I'm sure in his heart of hearts Kirk Ferentz did, too. He kind of surprised me in the postgame with a calm, rational explanation of why he thought the penalty was called.

'We didn't think it was there, and I'm not mad at him on that,” Ferentz said. 'You just can't put yourself at risk where you might be able to make a call. I haven't seen the film, but that's the only thing I would tell him. Our guys didn't think he touched him, either. The ball was gone, right? So, just don't give the officials a chance. They may think they see something, and I'm not saying it was or wasn't. You've got to be smart about that.”

So, the simple solution to the personal fouls is 'don't put yourself in that position.” Of course, that's easier said than done, especially with last week's targeting call that cost free safety Jordan Lomax the fourth quarter against ISU and the first half at Pitt. The way the game is called now, it was the correct call. Anything to the head of player out in the open like that is going to get flagged. So is, apparently, jumping at the QB and swiping and missing at the ball/helmet.

The way the game is called now.

Timeouts were gone with more than 7 minutes left

. . . If there was a problem with C.J. Beathard's performance, it was timeouts. That shouldn't be an 'if.” Iowa called its final timeout of the game with 7:42 left in the game. So, it was sort of 'all in” on the TD drive in which Iowa took the 24-20 lead. They lived to tell about it. This time.

The first timeout came on a third-and-9 play with 1:16 left in the third quarter. Iowa wanted to set up two plays. The first was a called handoff to RB Damon Bullock. If he gained 5 yards, Iowa was going to go for it on fourth down. He was stopped for no gain and the field goal unit ran onto the field.

Totally understand this timeout.

Iowa called another timeout with 8:19 left in the game to set up a fourth-and-1 play that RB Mark Weisman converted. This timeout makes sense.

The one that didn't, and seemed to rankle the Iowa sideline, was the one Beathard called with 7:42 left. Weisman had just converted a fourth-and-1 to set up a first-and-goal from Pitt's 1. Then, the timeout.

That was a long way to go without the safety net of a timeout. There was trouble getting the play called. It was an expensive timeout, but it also avoided a first-and-goal from the 6. Iowa was great in short yardage vs. Pitt, but that would've been pushing it.

'When you have a new quarterback, we've better get that cleaned up,” Ferentz said. 'We didn't have any options there at the end. That's . . . I get it, I'm not happy about it, but I get it.”

The schedule

. . . Ferentz talks on the B1G teleconference at 11:40. Iowa's weekly news conference begins at 12:45.

Check back here for the Ferentz transcript and videos.

Points of interest (Purdue)

. . . ' Purdue and Iowa meet for the 85th time on the gridiron, with the Boilermakers boasting a 46-25-3 record.

' The Motion ‘P' on Purdue's helmets this week will be made from tiny images of season ticket holders. Fans submitted pictures of themselves in Purdue gear over the summer.

' Purdue and Iowa are in the same division of the Big Ten for the first time.

' Danny Anthrop had 106 receiving yards on five catches, including a touchdown. His receiving total was the highest by a Boilermaker this season, and the best by any Big Ten player last week.

' Purdue forced three sacks, and has seven total in the last two weeks.

' The Boilermakers allowed a season-low 82 yards on the ground.

' Left tackle David Hedelin made his first career appearance for Purdue, after sitting out an NCAA mandated three-game suspension.

' Purdue's defense allowed a season low 13 points.

Ferentz videos: When what was said

Part 1

00 to 1:16 -- Intro, captains and Kirk Ferentz mentions QB Jake Rudock's injury

1:58 -- Can a player lose his starting spot to injury?

Who's the No. 2 QB now? Well, right now it's Tyler Wiegers.

3:40 -- More on Rudock, difference between 2008 and this year's QB change (all about injury and nothing to do with performance)

5:11 -- on Rudock staying out on the field with an injury and being there for CJ Beathard

6:04 -- Beathard's best attribute

7:02 -- The Beathard Thursday practice comment

8:01 -- Beathard's big arm

9:03 -- More CJB

9:40 -- CJB earned more playing time

10:23 -- What exactly was wrong with CJB last Thursday?

11:10 -- Does CJB's week change now that he's starter?

12:25 -- Question on kicking

Part 2

00 to 1:17 -- Did the offense have an energy surge with CJB in there?

1:17 -- Q on FB John Kenny

1:52 -- Trail and error to find Kenny's skill at FB

2:02 -- All the defensive subs

3:06 -- LB rotation (KF said there were a few injuries in the LB corps, mentioning Reggie Spearman on Sunday

3:17 -- On RB Jordan Canzeri. He's been dinged a lot this year.

5:10 -- Something QBs

5:52 -- Has KF ever remembered a time when he didn't agree with the OC on a QB choice?

6:37 -- Reflecting on the non-conference

7:43 -- Why did Iowa struggle early against last year at Purdue, which was 1-11 last year

9:15 -- On the Purdue defense

10:44 -- Did KF see the guy who had the tattoo of KF on his calf?

13:29 -- Top 10 thoughts or something

14:01 -- All I wrote was 'Probably not.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@sourcemedia.net